“When it comes to firing baseball team managers, there’s a lot you can learn by observing.” – Yogi Berra (by parenthetical attribution)
The first problem I had with this column was the title. It belongs to Yogi Berra by cliché deflection.However, the sudden news that the Astros had fired Manager Brad Mills and two of his coaches after last night’s most recent bug-squashing 12-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks was just to big to ignore – almost as big as the news that third string Houston Texans QB got off a pretty good placement pass on his first try late in the 4th quarter of the NFL boys’ 20-9 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
The next problem I had was “why Millsie? Why now? And why, in particular, did they fire those two assistants, hitting coach Mike Barnett and first base coach Bobby Meacham?”
The coaching terminations were the easiest to decipher, Take Barnett, for example. The guy couldn’t take a team full of AA and AAA batters and turn them into real major league hitters. Of course, you fire him. – As for the first base coach, that’s fairly basic too. The guy’s not Jose Cruz. It’s probably time to put Jose back down there on the field. He’s got to be antsy to get out there again and serve as the reminder in these troubling times that the Astros were once a respected winning ball club. At 7 AM this Sunday morning, we don’t know if you’re coming back the field, Jose Cruz, but we hope that you are.
Then I got to the question about Brad Mills and I realized the problem. I had already written that column back on July 27, 2012:
https://thepecanparkeagle.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/how-to-lose-your-job-as-manager-of-the-bakery/
It was called, “How to Lose Your Job as Manager of the Bakery.”
The Astros are going to sort all of this stuff out at a 10 AM CDT press conference later this morning.
Have a nice Sunday, everybody! You too, Masseurs. Mills, Barnett, and Meacham. What happened to you is just part of baseball, right? It really has nothing to with bakeries, correct?
Tags: ASTROS FIRE BRAD MILLS
The Pecan Park Eagle 
August 19, 2012 at 1:25 pm |
Wow, where are the Astros headed? , what a year this has been for the team and city, hard to watch without questioning ownership and the seemingly lack of direction by them and about our city’s sports future ? We can only guess what’s up? , pray for rain ,,,all games cancelled , to be played at a future date, that way maybe we can win one more game this year.,,maybe Later we can pretend to be a major league team .First kill all the players ,than the managers next ,
August 19, 2012 at 4:39 pm |
Oh, good grief. How pathetic …
August 19, 2012 at 5:25 pm |
Here’s a rundown on Luhnow’s trades up to just prior to the Wandy R. deal. http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2012/7/23/3171185/jeff-luhnows-brief-trade-history-with-houston The trades look pretty decent on paper.
Re: Mills, I confess I haven’t scrutinized his moves or style closely as I’ve grown so disenchanted with watching the team. But in fairness to the current management, Mills wasn’t their hire.
Re: DeFrancesco, I don’t have much to go on, but I assume he wasn’t current management’s hire either. He gets credit (from me) for being born in the Bronx. He managed in the “Moneyball” system (Oakland) for a few years, which theoretically could be a plus. The best thing I found about him re: his managerial abilities is that he managed an Oklahoma City team that played better (re: wins vs. losses) than the team’s Pythagorean projections for the past two seasons, which in some instances might be evidence of clever managing and not just luck. Mills managed that feat with the Astros in 2010, but in 2011 and this year the team’s W-L record was worse than its Pythagorean projections. I have a feeling that all the discrepancies I looked at between Pythagorean projections and team W-L records, for both Mills and DeFrancesco, fell within the standard error of measurement, so that stuff likely isn’t very revealing.
These are the times that try fans’ souls. I’m going to hang in there, but It’s very sobering to contemplate that, during a time period with no free agency, a fairly rigged expansion draft, and salaries that required supplementation from off-season lube-rack and haberdashery sales jobs, the 1962 Houston Colt .45s nevertheless were a better team than this one.
August 19, 2012 at 6:43 pm |
After the front office house cleaning last month
and the replacement of Bobby Heck, it would
seem that the dismissal Mills and coaches would be the next natural step. Let’s just hope that they leave the broadcast team intact!
With 41 games left to play, I find it more interesting to project out the current season. The Astros will have to play almost .500 ball for
the rest of the season to avoid “besting” their
team record 106 losses of last year. Their
current pace puts them at a 109 loss pace.
However, as their percentage record since unloading Lee and Wandy is much worse, they have a chance to tie or better the 2004 Diamondbacks record of 2011 losses. This Arizona team was the last to lose over a 110 games in a major league season, one of only
15 teams in major league history to accomplish
this feat.
While the 1899 Cleveland Spiders’ 134 loss
record is already safe, the 42-120 record of
1962 Mets is still technically in jeopardy. At any
rate this year’s Astros appear destined to join
a rather elite group. I’m kind of glad that Mills
will not have his name on the entire season. I should think he deserves a better legacy. He has in my opinion, like coach Dave Clark, been a class act.
August 19, 2012 at 7:22 pm |
After the front office turnover last month and
replacement of Bobby Heck, I suppose it seems
only natural that Brad Mills and field personnel
would be next as new management puts their
team in place. Let’s just hope they leave our
broadcasters alone!
At this point in the season, I’m finding it more interesting to project the Astros final record. Currently, they will need to play almost .500 ball
in order to prevent besting last year’s record 106 losses. Projecting out at their current percentage puts them at 109 for the season. However, as their percentage since the Carlos Lee trade has actually beenuch lower, they could easily lose 110 games or more.
Only 15 teams in major league history have accomplished this feat; the last being the 2004 Diamondbacks with 111. At this time the 1899 Cleveland Spiders all time record of 20-134 is definitely safe; however, the 1962 Mets modern record of 42-120 is still technically in reach.
In a way I’m glad that Brad Mills will be saved the indignity of having solely his name associated with this not so glorious feat. It is
my opinion that he, like coach Dave Clark, has been a class act throughout his tenure with the
Astros and deserves a better legacy.
August 23, 2012 at 12:48 pm |
Nicely put, Michael.